Cypress Park is a densely populated neighborhood of 10,000+ residents in Northeast Los Angeles, California. Surrounded by hills on three sides, it sits in the valley created by the Los Angeles River and the Arroyo Seco. It is the site of the Rio de Los Angeles State Park, the Los Angeles River Bike Path and other recreational facilities. It hosts one private and four public schools. The area was settled as a Spanish rancho which, after the Mexican–American War, became the property of an American landowner. After his death, Cypress Park was subdivided and established as a community in 1882. There are four Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in Cypress Park. The area is currently undergoing rapid to moderate gentrification due to its close proximity to Highland Park, Downtown and various transportation hubs. Population The 2000 U.S. census counted 9,764 residents in the 0,72-square-mile Cypress Park neighborhood—or 13,478 people per square mile, among the highest population densities for the city and the county. In 2008, the city estimated that the population had increased to 10,854. In 2000 the median age for residents was 27, considered young for city and county neighborhoods. The neighborhood was "not especially diverse" ethnically within Los Angeles, with the number of Latino people considered to be high compared to the city at large—82.1% of the population. Following were Asians, 11.1%; whites, 4.9%; blacks, 0.6%; and others, 1.3%. Mexico (73.2%) and China (6.3%) were the most common places of birth for the 52.5% of the residents who were born abroad—which was a high percentage compared to Los Angeles as a whole. The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $42,615, considered average for the city. Renters occupied 58.3% of the housing stock, and house- or apartment-owners held 41.7%. The average household size of 3.7 people was high for Los Angeles. The percentage of never-married females (51.8%) was among the county's highest. Geography The neighborhood is situated at the confluence of the Los Angeles River and Arroyo Seco, less than 2.5 miles north of Downtown Los Angeles. It lies within a historic alluvial floodplain shared with the Elysian Valley neighborhood, which is bounded by Elysian Park and Mt. Washington. History The land on which Cypress Park currently occupies was first settled by the Tongva tribe of the Shoshone Native Americans. When Gaspar de Portolà and his expedition first encountered the Los Angeles River in August 1769 and described